RJ02-Reflective Journal Entry 3- Formative Assessment - Due Saturday, March 5,2011
Develop a activity that you can use to provide formative feedback. Describe this activity, upload it, and link it to this entry.
Describe the concept that is difficult to learn or the misconception that this activity addresses.
Provide a link in your description to the appropriate GSE.
Explain how your activity allows you to assess your students' understanding, as well as the feedback that you will provide to help them correct their thinking.
I developed an inquiry activity and used it on the very first day of the Genetics unit. I started off class by giving a short biography about Gregor Mendel and his experiments with pea plants. The activity was done through a powerpoint presentation. I had students put themselves in the shoes of Mendel and we went through his two basic experiments. Students predicted the offspring of his first experiment, which was crossing a tall plant with a short plant. I had them develop a prediction and reasoning for the first cross. I gave them a few minutes to write down their predictions and then we discussed our thoughts as a class. I showed them what Mendel obtained as results of the cross. Since the results weren't what most people predicted, I had students think of a particular question they would ask about the results and think of a way they could test that question. They wrote down their thoughts and then we shared again. The activity continued in this fashion for Mendel's two experiments. At the end, students summarized what they could condlude from the experiments in a paragraph. We then transitioned into taking notes on the terminology for the first part of genetics.
This inquiry activity helped students to see what the purposes of Mendel's experiments were. Many of the students have already learned about genetics in the past, but their knowledge of the topic is in bits and pieces and not very cohesive. I feel as though this activity helps students connect all the pieces and gives them an indepth background of the topic.
This activity served as a pre-assessment of the students' knowledge of genetics. I called on multiple students after each prediction, question, or explanation and made sure every student contributed an answer at least a of couple times. I now have a better understanding of what they already know about the topic and what questions they still have. I collected their papers that they wrote their answers on and counted it as a classwork grade. This ensured that students were on task because they knew it was going to be collected.
I developed an inquiry activity and used it on the very first day of the Genetics unit. I started off class by giving a short biography about Gregor Mendel and his experiments with pea plants. The activity was done through a powerpoint presentation. I had students put themselves in the shoes of Mendel and we went through his two basic experiments. Students predicted the offspring of his first experiment, which was crossing a tall plant with a short plant. I had them develop a prediction and reasoning for the first cross. I gave them a few minutes to write down their predictions and then we discussed our thoughts as a class. I showed them what Mendel obtained as results of the cross. Since the results weren't what most people predicted, I had students think of a particular question they would ask about the results and think of a way they could test that question. They wrote down their thoughts and then we shared again. The activity continued in this fashion for Mendel's two experiments. At the end, students summarized what they could condlude from the experiments in a paragraph. We then transitioned into taking notes on the terminology for the first part of genetics.
This inquiry activity helped students to see what the purposes of Mendel's experiments were. Many of the students have already learned about genetics in the past, but their knowledge of the topic is in bits and pieces and not very cohesive. I feel as though this activity helps students connect all the pieces and gives them an indepth background of the topic.
GSE: http://riscienceteachers.wikispaces.com/LS3+%289-11%29+-+7
This activity served as a pre-assessment of the students' knowledge of genetics. I called on multiple students after each prediction, question, or explanation and made sure every student contributed an answer at least a of couple times. I now have a better understanding of what they already know about the topic and what questions they still have. I collected their papers that they wrote their answers on and counted it as a classwork grade. This ensured that students were on task because they knew it was going to be collected.